The purpose of this blog is to provide families with precise, up-to-date
information on all of America World Adoption’s programs, helpful
resources and adoption stories. We pray that you are encouraged
by seeing God working in families through the Spirit of Adoption.

June 2010

June 30, 2010

We are excited to share that over 100 waiting children have been matched with America World families from January- June 2010! We are blessed and honored to work with these referrals and see them placed into loving Christian homes. While some of these families are still waiting to travel as they wait for the CCAA approval process, at this time almost 100 families have traveled to China (with both the healthy and waiting children referral programs) to bring their children home. Please join us in praise and thanksgiving for these blessings. Additionally, we request your prayers for God to continue to bring forward families for more waiting children and to be with those families waiting for a referral through the healthy program as that wait time continues to increase.

Congratulations to the 8 families who accepted a referral for a waiting child in the month of June! These referrals were for boys and girls ages 10 months- 8 years old. There continues to be many waiting children referrals available for adoption and the wait time varies depending on a family’s requests. Some families are matched immediately upon entering the program. Families should contact a China Family Coordinator for more information and details on this referral process.

This past Saturday concluded our “spring” seminar season at America World. Since February, we have conducted nearly 50 seminars across the U.S. and welcomed over 500 people who were interested in learning more about the adoption process. Seminars are already being scheduled for our “fall” season which will begin in August.

America World adoption seminars are designed to provide families with an overview of the international adoption process, God’s perspective on the orphan and adoption, and a personal question & answer session. If you have not yet attended one of these seminars we invite you to watch for one coming to a church near you this fall. If you have any questions about an “Adopted by Design” seminar please contact our Public Relations Director at Mike.Stone@awaa.org .

June 29, 2010

The Bible, the very word of God, is not silent about the Lord's passion about and love for orphans. As adopted sons and daughters of our heavenly Father, our attention is directed toward orphans. Not only are we to take note of them, but we are exhorted time and time again to act on behalf of the fatherless.

Though not as exhaustive as it could be, the below list of Scripture's mention of orphans is comprehensive. I encourage every person to read these over carefully and consider God's heart for the orphan and how He is calling you to participate in His plan to care for orphans today.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.- James 1:27 (NIV)

Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.- Isaiah 1:17 (NIV)

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.- Psalm 68:5 (NIV)

Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.- Psalm 82:3 (ESV)

Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.- Exodus 22:22-23 (ESV)

He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.- Deuteronomy 10:18 (NKJV)

Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.- Deuteronomy 24:17-18 (NIV)

In light of God's sincere love and care for orphans and the oppressed, America World's Orphan's Ticket Home campaign seeks to make it possible and simple for people to help provide care for orphans, ranging from providing practical needs, to helping them to become eligible for their family through adoption.

June 25, 2010

We are excited about the development of our older orphan hosting program. Currently, we are hoping to bring over the first group of children from Ethiopia in December 2010 for approximately 5 weeks to the Washington D.C. metro area. These children would range in age from around 6 to 12 years old. By September, we anticipate recruiting host families and volunteers to help with coordination. Keep a watch out for the new website for more details! If you have questions or would like to talk to someone about the program please contact Mary Noble, Director of Hosting Program, at (703)891-3281 or e-mail at mary.noble@awaa.org.

June 18, 2010

I am excited to introduce Mary Noble to you. Mary joined the America World staff earlier this week as my Executive Assistant. Even in her short time here, she has already begun to develop our Orphan Hosting Program. Please read below as she shares more about herself and her heart for orphans.

I want to take a moment to introduce myself as the new Executive Assistant for Brian Luwis. First of all I want to share with you that I am glad for the opportunity to continue serving orphans while living in my home area of Washington DC. Growing up I knew I that wanted to be a social worker for children at risk. With that goal in mind, I completed a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and started working in the field. Later on, I completed a certificate of ministry from Messiah Biblical University and a master’s degree in Human Services Counseling from Regent University to better serve the children I worked with in foster care.

In the mid-1990’s God placed the needs of orphaned children from the former Soviet Union on my heart and mind. In 2008, I finally had the chance to live and serve in Russia. Over the past two years, I worked with orphans in St. Petersburg, Russia, mainly helping older youth who were transitioning out of the orphanage system. In addition, I conducted outreaches to orphanages in the area providing humanitarian aid, teaching English and organizing recreation. Living and serving orphans overseas opened my eyes and heart to the global needs of children in crisis. I feel God has placed a call on my life to look after the orphans in distress.

It is my hope that with the development of an orphan hosting program, more children will find their forever families. If you are interested in becoming a future host family please contact me at mary.noble@awaa.org.

June 16, 2010

In April of this year, Jason and Melody Lietzau returned from a trip to China with their daughter Hannah, adopted through the waiting child program with America World. Through a church service, the Lord had placed a burden on their hearts to adopt, and Melody felt a particular call to adopt a child with special needs. Hannah was born with a serious but treatable heart condition, and despite it being worse than anticipated, miraculously came through surgery less than a week after arriving in the U.S.

The Lietzau's story was featured in the Orange County Register, allowing them to share their wonderful story of God's provision and grace with their community. Since the article was written, Hannah is off oxygen and is a happy, healthy, little sister and daughter. Read more about the Lietzau family on their adoption blog.

June 14, 2010

We attended an America World seminar in March 2008, broken hearted from years of trying for children, infertility testing, being told there was a 0% chance we’d get pregnant, miraculously conceiving only to miscarry at 12 weeks, surgeries, and an unsuccessful domestic adoption. We attended the seminar because it was free and we needed training hours to keep our home study active, not that we were even considering pursuing another adoption. And the Lord touched our hearts, healed them, taught us that He was not surprised by infertility or orphans, and revealed what His amazing plan for us had been all along! I knew right away but Mike wasn’t so sure, so I simply stayed quiet and prayed. About 2 months later, Mike was ready and we sent in our application. There were two children waiting for us in Ethiopia!

And God’s timing in the waiting process was perfect although it didn’t seem like it at the time! We paper chased for almost 9 months, having to redo some paperwork due to requirement changes, waiting longer on several government agencies than we expected, and making two different attempts to get our paperwork certified but were finally Date to Ethiopia on May 29, 2009. All this was in His plan to put us in just the right place “in line” for our boys. When we received our ‘On Deck’ email from America World in August 2009 stating they believed our referral would come within 1-3 months and asking us to reaffirm our request, we emailed back that the Lord has placed a larger age range on our hearts than originally stated. Literally right after we sent that email, two little boys, aged 3 and 4, came to an orphanage in Addis Ababa where they stayed for only two days before being taken to the America World Transition House and referred to us.

When we first saw those two little faces, the empty hole in our hearts that longed for children was completely filled – these were the children the Lord had chosen for us to raise before the beginning of time. The adoption paperwork process was a challenge, which we knew it would be from the beginning. But holding those precious babes in my arms for the first time on February 15, 2010, we knew we would walk through everything we did and more for them.

“For I know the plans I have for you, “ declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you; to give you hope and a future.”

June 10, 2010

June ReferralsWe are excited to announce that June referrals arrived in our office on Monday, June 7th . America World received 4 referrals for all of our families logged in at the CCAA on April 24, 2006. The CCAA processed 5 days of LID’s and matched log in dates from April 22-26, 2006.

Next AWAA Group To Receive a ReferralAmerica World’s next group anticipating a referral is group 261 who have a LID (log in date) of 4/29/2006. We do not know how many LID dates the CCAA will process in their next group of referrals for July. The average processing timeframe is 2-6 LID dates each month. The CCAA does not guarantee processing timeframes.

Current Wait TimeThe current wait time from LID to referral is 50-51 months with a trend of increasing approximately a full month each month. Families should read the China Program Newsletter emailed on 3/19/2010 to understand the variety of factors contributing to the wait time and the reasons why it is impossible to predict the referral wait time for each family. Families should continue to anticipate a long wait for a referral.

Chinese ExpeditesAs the wait time has increased for the China program, the wait time for Chinese expedited cases has also increased. Though the CCAA does not guarantee the timelines for an expedited referral for Chinese heritage families. Chinese heritage families should anticipate a wait time that may be approximately 6-10 months shorter than the average wait time.

Any family interested in pursuing a concurrent adoption or the Waiting Children program should contact their Family Coordinator for more information. There are many concurrent adoption options that are available while a family’s dossier is waiting to be matched. America World’s Waiting Children program is also an excellent option for families who are interested in a boy, an older child, or a child with various types of medical or repaired conditions.

June 04, 2010

Now that school is out, looking for a fun project for your kids this summer? The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has commissioned an art project for children ages 5 through 12 across the country, which will depict interpretations of the theme, "We Are America." The project asks children to draw pictures that answer the question, "People have come from all over the world to become Americans. Why does that make us great?"

All adopted children have a very special story behind how they became a U.S. citizen. This project could be a great opportunity for them to reflect on both their heritage, and the future they have as part of a new family and new country.

This project is open to all children, adopted or biological. If you decide to participate, send us your submissions at blog@awaa.org in addition to the USCIS, and we will feature some of the artwork and short essays!

June 03, 2010

Congratulations to the 6 families who received referral matches through China’s waiting children program during the month of May! Referrals received were both boys and girls and included both young children as well as older children. We are very excited to announce that “Tyler”, the 13 year old boy who was our prayer focus last month, has now joined his forever family. Tyler’s adoption was completed a few days before his 14th birthday and we want to thank each of you who prayed for his adoption and for his forever family.

We continue to be blessed and honored to match families very quickly with referrals. Families open to unrepaired conditions- including cleft lip and palate, can be matched almost immediately upon joining the program, as long as their dossier is ready. Paper-chasing families can still be matched on a limited basis until their dossier is ready. Families who are open to adopting children, boys and girls, with special needs or a healthy older child are invited to email waitingchildren@awaa.org.

There are many referrals of children available for adoption on the CCAA’s shared system. We continue to try and place as many of these children into homes as possible and are thankful for families who participate in this program. Please continue to join us in prayer for more families to come forward and for these children to find their forever families!